One of the most captivating and productive school visits I ever had was when I recently met with 50 Young Authors at the Union Ridge School in Harwood Heights, IL. In the first half, I presented Visual Storytelling using my latest illustrated picture book "One Day I Went Rambling" as a guide.
In the second half, students read the first 2 minutes of their story, and as a class I led the discussion in helpful critique...what we liked, suggestions for improvement.

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In between, the students had a visual challenge to exercise their imaginations. I showed my own "Illustration-A-Day" challenge where I created art from a "3 unrelated words" daily prompt. First, I showed the art I created from the words "lamb, night sky, microphone." After that, I just showed various other 3 words combinations and had them guess what an illustration might be. You could just see the gears turning, lightbulbs flashing, hands wildly waving. Eruptions of laughter and clapping ensued when their imaginations matched mine. Sometimes, their visual impressions were better. Sometimes they protested "Lizard was not one of the words." To which I answered, "I didn't say you COULDN'T put a lizard in!" Then we talked about using imagination in writing.

When you go to an illustrator’s event at a school, a festival or a conference…there is more to it than meets the eye. Just as in the making of a picture book, the readers don’t get to see all the steps, the character studies, the sketches, the evolution of the final product. And so, here is a sneak peek at something I'll be doing this weekend.

On Sunday, October 12, I’ll be giving 2 presentations at the Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival. One is a sketch-scavenger hunt at Bookworm Gardens where kids and adults will hear about "rambling," how to use their imaginations outdoors. They'll receive a sketchbook…and out we’ll go, exploring! A book signing of “One Day I Went Rambling” will follow.

The next is an Open Studio at Kohler Art Museum where I will demonstrate my illustration style. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes prep work that comes before I begin this magical inking process. I sketch quite a bit before I settle on something. In the illustration up above, I added a little color to the fox, and began the underpainting with white gouache. When it dries, I’ll cover the whole thing with black ink.

On Sunday during the Open Studio demo…this piece will be rinsed and the illustration revealed…the unique line work, texture, color, and white space. My heart will be thumping, that moment of unknowing and anticipation, to see if it was a success. Then it’ll be the audience’s turn to try it. Yes, an interactive demo! Are you game??

If so, come. Bring the family! Here is a link to the Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival, which lasts all weekend. Check out the other luminaries in world of children’s books, and Sunday for the times and locations of my programs!

The best thing about doing school visits featuring my latest illustrated picture book, “One Day I Went Rambling” (Bright Sky Press, Kelly Bennett-author) is that inspired kid ramblers will rev up their imaginations weeks before I get there.
Children will often pair up with others or entice their families to go hunting in junk drawers, nooks-and-crannies, and outdoor environments for cast-away and forgotten items. Using the two most creative words in the English language, “What if…?” they transform their found objects into a new creation of their own inspiration.

To foster this kind of inventiveness is the greatest compliment. Last week, at Eastland Elementary in Shannon, Illinois, an entire wall display of “Rambling” ingenuity greeted me as I walked through the door.

The 2nd greatest compliment is that as we go through illustrations in the book, with a little prompting, kids discover they already intuitively know the language of art.

The spontaneous applause that erupted after the “big reveal” of the inking technique demo was just icing on the cake!

Thank you Eastland Elementary, for the opportunity to creatively connect with your students!

I’ve had the pleasure of presenting the picture book illustrator’s craft at school visits and have more booked on the horizon--but Springfield Elementary in Midlothian, Illinois, knows how to do it right! I realized this as soon as I walked in and saw their Welcome Bulletin Showcase with a Rambling theme, to honor my latest illustrated picture book “One Day I Went Rambling” (author,Kelly Bennett, Bright Sky Press 2012).

I was doubly surprised to see their cute version of the story’s main character Zane with a wagon-full of found treasures and a “cowpoke’s twirling rope!”

Authors and illustrators are interested in the same thing, telling a good story! The children learned that a good picture book story leaves room for an illustrator's interpretation, and an author does not need to say everything in words. Kids were able to answer questions I asked like “How did I use color to show the character's emotion? Or “How does this character’s body language give hints as to what a viper is?"

Certainly the best part of the illustration presentation is the live demo. Here I show my black and white technique, an involved process some of which I create in the studio. I save the most magical part for the demo. The pre-prepped board is painted black, takes a bath, and a line-drawn image appears and is projected on the jumbo screen!

Demo for 3rd & 4th grades:

To the delight of many!

Finally, my last delight was this sea of aqua shirts with the “Are You Ready to Ramble?”
theme logo. I lunched with these dedicated teachers, heard how they inspire their students to read, write, problem solve and create, while making learning fun! Thank you Springfield Elementary staff. You are true ramblers...finding the strengths and passion in your students, and
encouraging them to flower!

You can find out more about booking my picture book illustrator program here .